Quick update: I’m back on land, after spending a couple of weeks aboard Bella Principessa, a beautiful catamaran that belongs to my friends Julian and Ildi. Eric and Pam flew over to join us, and we got to know Willo and Emma, the wonderful crew aboard Bella.
![S/Y Bella Principessa S/Y Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
The eight of us had grand intentions to cruise the islands, possibly even visiting other island groups in Tonga, but two things dampened our ambitions, one literally, one quite the opposite.
First…rain. In the past 22 days, it’s rained for at least part of 12 days, while it’s only been unambigiously sunny on a handful.
![Raindrops, Bella Principessa raindrops on port window of Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/raindrops-window-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
![Captain Willo, Bella Principessa Captain Willo, S/Y Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/willo-rain-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
Second, the yacht’s water-maker broke, which meant we were on a short leash, unable to travel too far or too long away from a source of fresh water. Bummer.
![S/Y Bella Principessa Empty water tanks, S/Y Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/empty-water-tank-bella-principessa-tonga.jpg)
We made the best of the circumstances though, and took the opportunity to relax.
We hung around a lot:
![Julian Cohen, Bella Principessa Julian Cohen reading in hammock aboard Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/julian-cohen-hammock-bella-principessa-tony-wu.jpg)
![Pam Cheng, Bella Principessa Pam Cheng in hammock aboard Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/pam-cheng-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
Read and talked:
![Julian and Ildi Cohen, Bella Principessa Julian and Ildi Cohen aboard Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/julian-ildi-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
Snorkelled from time to time:
![Dinghy, Bella Principessa Bella Principessa dinghy](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/bella-principessa-dinghy-snorkel-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
Some of us acted (not) our age:
![Tony Wu, Julian Cohen Julian Cohen, Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/julian-tony-silly-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
…and we cooked and ate a lot of amazing food:
![Cooking aboard S/Y Bella Principessa Emma cooking aboard Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/emma-cooking-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
![Julian Cohen cooking aboard Bella Principessa Julian Cohen cooking aboard Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/julian-cooking-silly-face-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
I have more friends flying in tomorrow, so it’s a mad dash today to unpack and reorganise before they come in. Assuming all goes well, I’ll be out on the water again on Friday looking for humpback whales.
![Good friends, Bella Principessa S/Y Bella Principessa](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/09/emiko-julian-bella-principessa-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
![Sunset at Mounu Island Resort, Tonga sunset, mounu island resort, Vava’u](https://www.tonywublog.com/assets/images/2013/08/sunset-mounu-island-vavau-tonga-tony-wu.jpg)
Related Posts:
Humpback Whales in Tonga 2013 | Part 1
Humpback Whales in Tonga 2013 | Part 3